It's personal: Obama backs peace for Northern Ireland

BARACK OBAMA today backed the Northern Ireland peace process as he called America's bond with Ireland "one of the strongest in the world".

The US President spoke at the White House as he met Irish prime minister Brian Cowen ahead of talks with the province's political leaders.

Mr Obama's intervention was intended to back British and Irish efforts to keep the peace process alive after the murder of two soldiers and a policeman by IRA dissidents last week. He was due to appear side-by-side with Peter Robinson, the Unionist first minister, and Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein deputy first minister, as they marked St Patrick's day in Washington.

Mr Obama met Mr Cowen in the Oval Office as part of a day full of events to mark the holiday, and said that he hoped to visit Ireland.

The President said Irish culture and tradition have had a huge impact on American life.

Mr Obama also said that his fondness for Ireland is "personal" because his mother's family ancestry could be traced to the country. A visit by the US President to Northern Ireland would be a huge boost for the power-sharing executive and could come as early as next month, when Mr Obama attends the G20 summit of world leaders in London.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams also held talks with Hillary Clinton, the American Secretary of State, about the current situation.

The involvement of both the president and secretary of state underlines the importance of the Irish vote in American politics, particularly to the Democrats.